Microelectromechanical systems or MEMS devices include micromachined substrates integrated with electronic microcircuits. Such devices may form, for example, microsensors or microactuators which operate based on, for example, electromagnetic, electrostrictive, thermoelectric, piezoelectric, or piezoresistive effects. MEMS devices have been formed on insulators or other substrates using micro-electronic techniques such as photolithography, vapor deposition, and etching.
An example of a MEMS device includes a micro-mirror device. The micro-mirror device can be operated as a light modulator for amplitude and/or phase modulation of incident light. One application of a micro-mirror device is in a display system. As such, multiple micro-mirror devices are arranged in an array such that each micro-mirror device provides one cell or pixel of the display.
A conventional micro-mirror device includes an electrostatically actuated mirror supported for rotation about an axis of the mirror. As such, rotation of the mirror about the axis may be used to modulate incident light by directing the incident light in different directions. To direct the incident light in different directions, the mirror may include a reflective surface which reflects the incident light. Unfortunately, variations in the reflective surface may lower the reflectivity of the mirror and/or produce light interference, thereby lowering or diminishing a contrast ratio of the mirror.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.